New Delhi: The case of a woman in Ahmedabad acting as a surrogate mother to her grandchildren has stirred a hornet's nest with doctors seeing it as a ray of hope for childless couples but women's activists disapproving it on ethical and moral grounds.

Legal experts say the law recognises only biological parenting in India.

Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), meanwhile, is working on guidelines on Assisted Reproduction Technology (ART), which would address all the issues pertaining to surrogate motherhood including those involving natural relationships.

"The draft is ready and the guidelines are under finalisation," Dr Vasantha Muthuswamy, senior deputy director general, ICMR said.

"We currently have ethical guidelines which broadly address the issue. These are silent on who could be surrogate mother," she said adding the draft of the new guidelines permitted only surrogate motherhood by unrelated people.

However, the National Commission for Women has suggested that both unrelated and related women should be allowed to be surrogate mothers, Muthuswamy said.

"In the West, especially US (United States), it is very free and permissive society, but this should not be allowed in conservative societies like ours," she said.

Differing from this view, Dr Nimesh Desai of the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences said, "It (mother bearing children of her daughter) is fine in an evolving society as long as the psychological issues are handled well.

"But, a clear contract should be signed which specifies various legal and ethical issues related to the case, Desai said and added "confused identity" problem may occur in children born out of relationship across generations.

Dr Suneeta Mittal, head of the department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at AIIMS, said that there is a need for a law to specify the various aspects of surrogate motherhood while currently there is none.

Referring to the Gujarat case, she said, "As mother has an emotional bondage with her daughter, she should be allowed to be surrogate mother for her daughter's children. Even a sister can fulfil that role. We should not make an issue out of it. Not permitting this will lead to cases of hiring of womb."

ART specialists and gynaecologists generally believe that related persons should be allowed to act as surrogate mothers, Muthuswamy said. The current ICMR ethical guidelines recognise the woman who gives birth to the child as the mother and intended parents have to adopt the child from her.

The surrogate mother can retain the child if she decides so despite signing a contract on the contrary as she has emotional and psychological relationship with child. The guidelines also do not allow surrogate motherhood for money, she said, adding it has to be only for altruistic purpose.

Noted lawyer Indira Jaisingh said there was no sanction for this in the law. "Indian law recognises only biological parentage," he said.